Reintroduction of the Base Access Privileges Improvement Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, today I reintroduce legislation that would standardize and streamline military base access for designated support personnel across the Nation. I thank my colleague Congressman Donald Norcross (D-NJ01) for being the bill's original cosponsor.

Our outstanding service members require and deserve a great amount of backing. Every day, civilians access bases to provide services, transport goods, or conduct training. Unfortunately. from state to state--or even facility to facility--there are different standards of bureaucracy that these support workers must deal with.

The Base Access Privileges Improvement Act will create an overarching set of access standards for people with constant, legitimate need to access military installations. For truckers who already carry national identification credentials, they will be able to streamline delivery of household goods to military members on base. For union workers who are training or repairing systems, it will make the time spent getting on base more efficient and effective.

As Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, I'm critically aware that the military requires support from the Nation. Military installations are secure for a good reason: our service members maintain a constant state of preparedness. However, for those civilians who are already appropriately vetted and cleared, we must ease the burdens currently in place for their access to do the job we've asked and the military needs.

Military bases can maintain the highest level of scrutiny for those seeking access, while still equalizing the requirements across the nation. Adding access permissions for those already thoroughly screened will help make our military a more lethal force. The legislation I reintroduce today would ensure just that.

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